


Gone, but not Forgotten

by Sakura_no_Umi



Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, and a promise, you might want your tissues for this one too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25959628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Umi/pseuds/Sakura_no_Umi
Summary: Hao knows he's gone in the instant he awakens to blood trickling down his face, but he doesn't know why or how. He has to find out, because no matter what Matamune had done 500 years ago Hao could never stay mad at him.
Relationships: Asakura Hao & Matamune (Shaman King)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 15





	Gone, but not Forgotten

It was the start of a new year when Hao awoke to the trickle of blood down his face. He was only ten, but he knew immediately what of his had been taken from him. His second oldest friend, gone from the world a second time.

Friend was such a strange word. Matamune had never come to find him during his countless years of hell, although he supposed it was hard for a corporeal spirit to cross over into the Great Spirit. Then, when Hao had returned to the world of the living for the first time, Matamune stayed far away while Ohachiyo continued to whisper every thought of the Patch into his mind.

He didn't see Matamune again until he was staring down the length of the Oni Slayer, and Matamune refused to meet his eyes or acknowledge him. He died by his friend's hands, and the blow stung, but he had hardened his heart long ago. Shaman King was never truly the end goal of that life. Obtaining the secrets of the Patch, and the Spirit of Fire had been his sole goal to ensure the third time would be successful. 

In his third life, part of Hao expected Matamune to come crawling back, to state he regretted what he did and ask for forgiveness. There were so many things Hao couldn't forgive, but Matamune was different. He would welcome him back with open arms no matter how many knives he plunged into his back.

But Matamune stayed away. Maybe he was afraid of Hao's ire, afraid to face him not knowing Hao would always welcome him back without a grudge or vehemence. Matamune kept his distance, and Hao kept his own afraid to be met with the irrefutable fact that Matamune truly detested him with every fiber of his spirit. Then one day he was just...gone. The spirit vanished from the earth without a trace, without a sound.

Hao didn't know how or why Matamune had met his end. The last time Hao had reached his senses out, the spirit had more than enough furyoku to maintain his form for at least another lifetime. Something had happened, and Hao was going to find out what. If it was his no good descendants fault again, Hao would rain fire down on the compound. And if Matamune had willingly decided to shed the mortal world, well Hao didn't know what he would do. Why now? Were the Asakuras asking him to repeat the same tragedy as 500 years ago, and Matamune finally could not take the burden any longer? Had he thrown away Hao's gift simply so neither of them would have to hurt again like the last lifetime?

Matamune had died in Aomori, but Hao was positive it would be a wasted trip. He knew Matamune had been back in Izumo recently, and that all plotting against Hao started in Izumo. He left for a home he hadn't been to since the day he was born ten years ago.

He hadn't made it far into the compound when he spied someone approaching the gates that gave him pause. A face the same as his own, the other half of his soul, wiping unshed tears from his eyes. Around his neck was the medium Hao had imbued with furyoku for Matamune. His twin's heart and mind were an open book, and for once Hao didn't curse the power bestowed upon him.

He watched the trip to Aomori play out in mere seconds overcome as if he had been there himself.

“Let's go,” he called softly to Spirit of Fire, turning away to hid the twin tear tracks threatening to appear much like his twin's.

Yoh had fought so hard for a girl he didn't know, a girl so much like Hao in his first childhood. Alone, afraid, and unable to escape the intrusions from others hearts and minds.

If Hao had been the stranger there, would Yoh have fought just has hard? Would he had fought with all his power to save the girl without Matamune there to help. Matamune who knew all the the deep ugly truths of reishi?

Hao wouldn't let anyone stop him in his quest to be Shaman King, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it was Yoh. If Yoh fought with that same passion and conviction as he had with the girl.

There, Hao made a resolution. At the end of the Shaman Fight in four years time they would come together with a bear-claw necklace between them. Only then would he call Matamune back to the world of the living. It wouldn't be fair to be selfish in that moment. His twin, the other half of his soul, loved Matamune as much as he had, and Matamune had loved them both. A reunion was only fair if it was all three of them together. 

They would both have to survive the Shaman Fight. There could be no defeat, no reclaiming of souls. And if there was? Well Matamune would remain lost, and neither would deserve to see him again.


End file.
